Little White Lie
by Moonchild10
Summary: One-shot. Tamaki learns the hard way that his melodrama can often lead to disaster. Tamaki x Haruhi, implied Tamaki x Kyouya.


**Disclaimer: HOWDY!**

**Well, I wrote this for Ouran Contest's prompt "little white lies". It's written in a melodramatic style because it's mostly about Tamaki and the way he thinks. Reviews are much appreciated! WEEE!**

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It was just a little white lie.

He could never have imagined it would go this far. It had only been to protect her feelings, to keep her safe, as everything else he did was. He hated to imagine even a trace of sadness on her face, and his every action was directed toward keeping a smile there instead. So, he lied. But now, after so much time had passed, it was stifling. It kept piling up and piling up, like so many bricks weighing down on his soul. It was crushing him, and he found it difficult to move under the stress of such an enormous weight.

Tamaki had always been an honest person. He could recall his mother telling him when he was small, _"Always tell the truth, and eventually things will work themselves out."_ Unwilling to disregard any precious advice from her, Tamaki had done his best to always tell the truth. He had made sure to pick out genuinely good qualities in his customers when he flattered them, he had made sure to admit when he was wrong about things (though sometimes after a bit of time had passed… he still had his pride), and of course when Haruhi had come to him that rainy afternoon and confessed her feelings to him, awkward and barely able to look him in the eye, he had truthfully told her how he felt in return.

Because of all this, in a way, Tamaki had believed his entire relationship with Haruhi was built on honesty. He had liked to think of it as a pure white rose; innocent and flawless and held delicately together, only surviving because of tender care and the constant affection that went into it. And then, of course, the lie had come. He knew he was definitely blowing it out of proportion, but the thing was that that was just the way Tamaki _was_, filled with far too much energy that he poured into everything, even into agonizing over lying to his girlfriend.

"Tamaki-sempai--" she had begun on a warm but rainy afternoon after school, while they were sitting lazily in the game room of the Suoh household, not really paying much attention to the television that they had settled down to watch.

"Just Tamaki, remember?" he had told her gently for the thousandth time, giving her the kind of smile that rarely failed to make her cheeks grow pink. It simply delighted him when he received that reaction, and he had to resist the impulse to drop his tea and leap on her to give her a tight squeeze.

Haruhi sighed. "Tamaki?"

"Yes?" he had asked her, regarding her warmly over the rim of his teacup. It was one of those perfect afternoons that filled him with warmth despite the weather. Here he was, sitting with Haruhi-- _his_ Haruhi-- and drinking tea lazily, and they were completely at ease with each other. There was nothing in the world he enjoyed more than these perfect moments.

"Well… umm…" Haruhi seemed to be struggling with her words, and Tamaki lowered his cup, slightly intrigued. She seemed nervous, and he couldn't help but wonder why. "The thing is, Tamaki… lately I've been noticing some things."

"Things?" Tamaki cocked his head slightly.

"Yeah, things… and I'm curious," Haruhi took a deep breath. "And I was just wondering… Tamaki, do you have feelings for Kyouya?"

That was the moment when Tamaki's world froze. He could barely breathe, barely speak, and all he could do was stare at the girl whom he cared for so deeply without words, and hope for a moment that this situation was not real. And all the could think, the only thing that he could hear clearly in his head, was "_how did she know?" _His mind reeled uncontrollably, his hands sweated, and his eyes trembled.

Of course he had feelings for Kyouya. Those feelings had been dormant in his heart for years, since the very first time he met the shadow king. But they were different from his feelings for Haruhi; his _Haruhi_ feelings were pure and light, ones that made him smile and caused his heart to dance with delicious excitement whenever he dwelled on them. They were like sunshine, therapeutic and uplifting for the soul. They were feelings that allowed him to soar, to shine, and to pour out all his affections openly and not fear her reaction. To him, his feelings for Haruhi were safe. They were feelings that she returned, and made him feel sure and strong.

His _Kyouya _ feelings, however, were darker. They were more selfish, shadowed, unfamiliar. There was a desire to own him completely, a ghost of lust that floated across his consciousness when he closed his eyes. The feelings scared him, made him feel pleasantly weak and decadent as he stared unfazed into those dark, knowing eyes of Kyouya's. Whenever he thought of them a scream of self-indulgence flew through his mind at the things he could _do_ to the other boy. They were so different from his feelings for Haruhi that sometimes he wondered how love could be colored in so many different ways… how one single emotion could give him two separate sets of feeling.

And so, Tamaki _knew_ he had feelings for Kyouya. But he knew instinctively not to tell her. Feelings for another person are not something you reveal when you're in love, he reminded himself. He could not bear to see the look on her face when he told the truth. And so he looked his lover straight in the eye and lied. He locked his vision with hers and uttered the "No," that would soon become the bane of his existence. And afterward he had actually allowed himself to hold her, as though he deserved it.

And so now, a week later, he could feel himself drifting in and out of reality as he sat in the third music room, entertaining a group of girls. Deep in his mind he was drawn deeply into the war of his emotions, the world of love that existed in the dark sensuality of his feelings for Kyouya and the light sweetness of his feelings for Haruhi. It was enough to drive a man mad. Oh, the agony, of the dilemma! Oh, the deliciously sweet insanity of the fact that he could love them both and not even deserve either. Fate was so cruel. Tamaki was more fickle and man than he had ever realized, and the tiny lie and completely altered his perception. He swooned inwardly, floating on wispy clouds of his own regret. And now he sat in his agony, a time-bomb ready to burst at any moment from the sheer pressure of all the emotion building up behind his calm face.

"Tamaki, are you okay?" Haruhi asked him. She was watching him. Oh, she knew. He nearly died inside, on the verge of bursting. Where was the kindness of the fates that he so desperately needed? Life was not in any way fair.

"Of course!" he answered. Another lie! Oh sweet, sweet bitterness! Was he to forever be tangled in a web of his own dishonesty? When would the coils of his lies wrap his so tightly that he would trip and be discovered? How long could be survive? He was sure the expression on his face made him appear constipated. Things had gone too far! The previous week of his life had been utter hell, and he could no longer suffer through the torture. "Haruhi, I lied!" he wailed, not bothering to take her somewhere more private to speak to her, so desperate was his need for emotional release.

"What?" Haruhi looked more than a bit confused… slightly frightened, actually, as he shouted those words and then clung to her in shame.

"I lied to you last week! Oh, I lied!" he wailed. "Oh the dark, horrible shame!"

"What? What did you lie to me about?" Haruhi blinked, and Tamaki wondered why she didn't look furious or horrified at such a horrible revelation.

"You asked me if I had feelings for Kyouya!" Tamaki wailed. "And I said no! But I do! Oh, Haruhi, I'm so sorry! And I'm so sorry I lied! I'm so sorry for everything! Please forgive me! Please don't be angry! I swear I will make it up to you in any conceivable way I can! Just say the word and I'll do it! Anything you ask!"

"Umm…" Haruhi just blinked again, and it was then that Tamaki realized how many people had undoubtedly heard this little confession. Kyouya was one of them, and at the moment he was staring at him with a mixture of surprise and horror. Tamaki felt like he was going to be sick.

"Er…" he immediately blushed a rich scarlet and looked back at Haruhi. "I…"

"Tamaki, you're making a scene…" Haruhi informed him too late. "And anyway, you don't need to do all this. Last week, you said no, but then you nodded. You didn't lie to me at all, and I knew anyway. I was just curious, that's all…"

"I didn't lie after all!" Tamaki whispered, his joy returning when he realized that he was not the cold, horrible beast he had believed. He nearly leaped on Haruhi and thanked her, but then he became conscious of another fact… namely that the other hosts and various customers were still staring at him in surprise, while the twins were giving him an amused look that said quite plainly 'we're never going to forget this, you know.' "Oh… he said softly, blushing an even deeper shade of crimson. "I guess I'll just be going now," he walked quickly to the door and exited the room, escaping the stares of the amused crowd.

"Well, I guess Tamaki learned a valuable lesson today," Kyouya said thoughtfully, looking only slightly fazed.

"Ooh! Was it that it's bad to lie?" Hunny asked, waving an arm around from where he sat perched on Mori's shoulders.

"No, that he should shut up more often," Kyouya answered cheerfully, straightening the papers he was holding. "Now, who wants some tea?"

"So there really _wasn't_ a lesson here," Haruhi said with a sigh.

"Nope!" Hunny answered her happily.

"Rich bastards…" deciding it was about time to hunt Tamaki down and get him out of his fetal position. She shook her head as she exited and made her way down the hallway. She found him hunched in an alcove, behind a bust of a past headmaster. "Tamaki, are you alright?" she asked him gently, touching his shoulder. The blonde who crouched facing the corner nodded slightly. Coming out of his tight ball, he turned around.

"Yes, and I learned a valuable lesson, Haruhi!" he said, embracing her tightly.

"Oh really? What was it?"

"That instead of lying, I should just tell everyone around me every single solitary thing I feel!" he declared, pointing one hand dramatically skyward. Haruhi sighed heavily, allowing herself to be pulled into another rib-crushing embrace. He really was hopeless, but she supposed she wouldn't really want him any other way.

**Fin**


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